Description: Thomas Alva Edison was one of the greatest inventors of all of history. Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. As a child, he lived in Milan and Port Huron, Michigan. The home in Milan where Edison was born was built in 1842, sold by Edison’s parents in 1854, repurchased by his his sister Marian Edison Page in 1894, and bought by Thomas Edison in 1906. Edison invented the carbon transmitter, which greatly improved the telephone. He also invented quadruplex telegraphy and the phonograph. His invention of the incandescent light bulb led Edison to create elaborate generation plants for electricity, helping make electricity available in many people's homes. He invented the kinetoscope -- the precursor to the film projector -- in 1891. During World War I, Edison helped develop new weapons for the United States military. By the time of his death on October 18, 1931, Edison had received over one thousand patents. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F02_026_1
Subjects: Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931--Birth; Milan (Ohio)--History; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931--Archives--Catalogs
Places: Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Thomas Edison, a native of Milan, Ohio, invented and patented this phonograph. It was Edison's favorite invention. He created what he called the "Speaking phonograph" while working on improvements to Alexander Graham Bell's telephone in 1877. He did not market the machine for another ten years, however, so that he could concentrate on his next invention, the electric light. This oak and metal tabletop phonograph was made between 1915 and 1930 and measures 19.68 by 15.74 by 14.96 inches (50 by 40 by 38 cm). Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was born in Milan, Ohio. He gained fame as an inventor, registering a total of 1,093 patents for such innovations as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the moving picture camera. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1480_1164701_001
Subjects: Science and Technology; Inventions; Inventors; Phonograph; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931
Places: Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: This record was made by Thomas Edison to be played on the phonograph, which he invented. The record is held in a cardboard cylinder that stands 4.6 inches (11.7 cm) high and is 2.44 inches (6.2 cm) in diameter. Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was born in Milan, Ohio. He gained fame as an inventor, registering a total of 1,093 patents for such innovations as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the moving picture camera. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1480_1164707_002
Subjects: Science and Technology; Inventions; Inventors; Phonograph; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931
Places: Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image depicts the Edison home in Milan, Ohio. Thomas Edison, the American inventor and businessman, was born in Milan on February 11, 147. He lived there until he was seven years old. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06407
Subjects: Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931; Inventors--Ohio
Places: Milan (Ohio); Huron County (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of inventor Thomas Edison relaxing in a chair while camping in Maryland with Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford, July 23-24, 1921. This trip was one of many that Ford, Firestone, and Edison took between 1916 and 1924. President Warren G. Harding was invited to their camping trip in Maryland in July of 1921, which became known as "Camp Harding." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02728
Subjects: Inventors--Ohio; Ohio Economy--Science and Technology; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931
Places: Pecktonville (Maryland)
 

Description: Photograph of inventor Thomas Edison and businessmen Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, ca. 1920-1929. Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, in 1847 and was known for his many inventions, including his most famous--the light bulb. Henry Ford was born in Michigan in 1863 and was known for his feats in automobile production. Harvey Firestone was born Columbiana, Ohio, in 1868 and was known creating the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio. All three American industry leaders often worked and vacationed together. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02918
Subjects: Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Firestone, Harvey Samuel, 1868-1938; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931
 

Description: Inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was born in this brick house in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847. Edison's parents sold the home when they moved to Port Huron, Michigan in 1854, but his sister, Marion Edison Page, purchased it in 1894. Thomas Edison became the owner of his birthplace in 1906. Ironically, the house was still lit by candles and lamps upon Edison's last visit in 1923. After his death, his wife and daughter worked to open the home as a museum and memorial to Thomas Edison. The Edison Birthplace Museum opened in 1947 on the 100th anniversary of Thomas Edison's birth. This photograph measures 2.75" x 2.75" (6.99 x 6.99 cm). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3114_3737152_001
Subjects: Science and Technology; Architecture; Houses; Inventors; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931
Places: Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of a painting titled "Dawn of a New Light," which depicts inventor Thomas Edison at different life stages. The painting was created by Ohio artist Howard Chandler Christy in 1950 and hangs in the rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03333
Subjects: Painters -- Ohio; Ohio Economy--Science and Technology; Christy, Howard Chandler, 1873-1952; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931; Inventors -- Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Inventor Thomas Alva Edison visiting his birthplace in Milan, Ohio, August 11, 1923. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00737
Subjects: Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931; Inventors--Ohio; Ohio Economy--Science and Technology
Places: Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Portrait of inventor Thomas Alva Edison, ca. 1920 - 1929. Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. He gained fame as an inventor, registering a total of 1,093 patents for such innovations as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the moving picture camera. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00738
Subjects: Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931; Inventors--Ohio; Ohio Economy--Science and Technology;
 

Description: These two photographs show President Warren G. Harding, inventor Thomas Edison, rubber manufacturer Harvey Firestone, and automobile manufacturer Henry Ford horseback riding through Maryland during a camping trip in 1921. This camping trip was one of many that Ford, Firestone, and Edison took between 1916 and 1924. Harding was invited to their camping trip in July of 1921, which became known as "Camp Harding." Warren Gamaliel Harding (1865-1923) was born in Corsica (now called Blooming Grove), a small town in Morrow County, Ohio. Harding graduated from Ohio Central College in Iberia at the age of sixteen. His family moved to Marion, where Harding taught school and briefly studied law. He worked occasionally as a reporter for a local paper before buying the Marion Star in 1884. Within five years, the Star was one of the most successful small-town newspapers in the state. Harding became popular as the leader of the Citizen's Coronet Band, which played at political rallies, and for his skill as an orator. Willing to follow the lead of political bosses, Harding advanced rapidly in Ohio politics, serving as state senator and lieutenant governor. In 1914 Harding was elected to the U. S. Senate. He launched his famous "front porch" 1920 presidential campaign from the porch of his Victorian home in Marion, Ohio. He won the presidency with sixty percent of the popular vote, promising a "return to normalcy" following the wave of reforms begun during Theodore Roosevelt's administration. As President, Harding appointed several friends to federal office who proved untrustworthy. His administration was tainted by corruption, and the infamous "Teapot Dome" scandal (in which Harding's Secretary of the Interior leased a U.S. petroleum reserve to a private oil company) nearly destroyed his presidency. After he died in office in August 1923, other scandals were uncovered, further tarnishing Harding's reputation. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Page1
Subjects: Presidents and Politics; Sports; Arts and Entertainment; Camping; Horseback riding; Horses; Harding, Warren G. (Warren Gamaliel), 1865-1923; Firestone, Harvey Samuel, 1868-1938; Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931
Places: Marion (Ohio); Marion County (Ohio); Pecktonville (Maryland)
 

Description: This 8.5" by 11" (21.59 by 27.94 cm) image depicts Thomas Alva Edison visiting his birthplace in Milan, Ohio on August 11, 1923. The Edison family moved to Canada at the end of the American Revolution with others who had taken the side of the British king rather than the American colonists. In the 1830s, the family was forced to flee Canada due to Edison's father Samuel's participation in the unsuccessful Papineau-MacKenzie Rebellion against the Canadian government. Samuel and Nancy Elliot Edison and their children settled first in Milan, Ohio and then in Port Huron, Michigan. Edison (1847-1931) gained fame as an inventor, registering a total of 1,093 patents for such innovations as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the moving picture camera. As a boy, Edison was boxed in the ears by an angry train conductor after he destroyed a box car when his science experiments exploded. Edison pointed to the incident as the cause of his loss of hearing, which worsened throughout his life. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1495_1160563_001
Subjects: Science and Technology; Daily Life; Architecture; Inventors; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931; Houses
Places: Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)